Reflections on Tobago
Posted: Sat Aug 26, 2006 1:37 pm
This post provides reflections on a 10 month ‘sabbatical’ in Tobago between October 2005 and August 2006.
My wife and I never managed a gap year, so after twenty years of working hard and with four young children in tow (aged, 10, 4, 3 and 8 months) we decided it was time for a break. We chose Tobago because it is pretty civilised (any nation that drives on the left must be OK) and there was nothing particularly nasty that could bite you or cause terminal illness. I also had connections with Tobago through work that provided an opportunity to do some voluntary work with an environmental NGO.
So after four months of preparation, we finally set off for Gatwick at 4am one wet October morning. The plane journey with four young kids is best forgotten (only an hour or two late) and we finally escaped the clutches of the Crown Point arrivals hall with all our baggage intact to be met by Sheppy. The (in)formalities swiftly completed we headed off in our wagon to the house we were renting at the top of Northside Road, overlooking Scarborough.
Over the next few days we slowly settled in (although it took a couple of months before the kids stopped waking up at silly hours in the morning). Joined the queue at TSTT to buy a local mobile phone, set up dial up internet access, find the supermarkets to buy all the things we’d forgotten to bring or couldn’t get in the suitcases etc etc.
By about the fifth day we were ready for some serious tourist activity and headed off for Castara. We stopped at Mount Dillon viewpoint on the way and were happily enjoying the view when a ‘gentleman’ with a machete leapt out and demanded all our money, camera etc. At first I thought it was a joke, but soon realised he was serious when he started waving the machete at my three year old daughter. At this point I got very cross and started shouting and advancing on our ‘attacker’ (later nicknamed ‘ol machete’ by our four year old daughter). Fortunately he promptly ran off back into the bushes. Police duly called, took notes etc etc but we never heard anything from them again… Having assured my wife that Tobago was very safe, our sabbatical nearly cam to an abrupt halt there and then – it was just the thought of another long plane journey home that kept us in Tobago. Our three year old had nightmares for about a week but was soon back to her normal self. Fortunately that was the only trouble of any sort that we encountered during our stay.
After that life settled into a happy routine of pool-beach-pool-sleep with a bit of work (I still had to work remotely 1 day per week for my UK employer) and voluntary work thrown in, home schooling (about an hour a day for our eldest) and pre-school a couple of mornings a week for our daughters (to keep us sane).
We have done just about every tourist thing on the island. Our family favourites ( in no particular order):
o Castara (both beaches are great); Little Bay is more sheltered
and we love the Boat House - if only it was open more often;
o Argyll waterfall – great for splashing in pools (and diving in
for the more adventurous);
o Blue Waters Inn/Bateaux Bay – we were fortunate to spend a
couple of days in one of the chalets (Owner’s bungalow);
o Canoe Bay – very child friendly beach and Helena and Winston
always made us very welcome;
o Pigeon Point – while there is a lot of hype, it is still a great
place for families (just avoid the days when the cruise liners
disgorge their passengers!);
o Cuffie River – more to see than on the main rainforest walks
(striped owls, potoo and cocoa mort blue butterflies), all
topped off by one of the best lunches on the island;
o Buccoo Reef glass bottom boat tour – there are still some
spectacular bits of reef left, just such a shame that much of
the reef has been trashed;
o Ciao Café (Scarborough) – for the ice cream and caffeine fix;
o Fort George (Scarborough) – for the views, climbing on the
cannons and the ‘Guitar Man’;
o Boat trips along the Caribbean coast – on a calm day this can’t
be beat.
So far as food goes, gastronomy is not Tobago’s strong point. The best meals we had were all at La Terrazza, serving non-local food, although we sampled widely elsewhere (Seahorse Inn, Tartaruga, Indigo’s, Ru-B-Lou’s, Mot-Mot, BWI, Dillon’s etc). Stag or Carib? Neither thanks – so good to be back on English beer.
I am also a doubly hopeless fisherman (hopelessly addicted but hopeless at catching anything), pacing the beaches at first light in search of Jaws. It has been my pleasure, through the myTobago site, to meet up and fish with a whole host of visitors from UK and elsewhere. This greatly enriched and enlivened my fishing trips – guys (and one or two gals), I can only apologise for all those blank trips! I have also been fortunate to go out with a number of local fishermen particularly at Plymouth and Castara - being at sea in a small pirogue is just a wonderful experience, the fishing is almost incidental.
Pretty much universally, all the locals we have met have been very friendly, although getting to know them in any meaningful way proved extremely difficult. We have puzzled over this a good deal - it just seems many of them are quite reserved – maybe they are just used to seeing ‘foreigners’ come and go. Most of the people we will be staying in touch with are ex-pats (British, Americans, Canadians).
Politically and economically, Tobago seems a complete anachronism. Instead of unemployment benefit, the Government pays a significant proportion of the population to trim the verges (with machetes and strimmers) under the auspices of CEPEP (Community Environmental Projects). This is very popular because it provides employment for many and a full days pay for about 3 hours work (leaving plenty of time for liming). However, it is only sustainable because of large oil & gas revenues to fund CEPEP. It is also a trap because large amounts of money are used to maintain the status quo, rather than to develop skills and ‘economically productive’ jobs. If things are to change, that change is more likely to come from the business sector rather than government. In the meantime the island seems to bumble along with change happening only slowly – maybe this just adds to the charm of the place, although I’ve no idea whether it can continue indefinitely.
On environmental matters (in which I have a professional interest), Tobago has a long way to go. But while the island has its share of environmental catastrophes, it still retains some spectacular wildlife and habitats and my hope is that effective arrangements for the management of the environment can be put in place before it is too late.
Has it been worthwhile? Definitely – it has been fantastic experience and great to spend quality time with my children (although I admit to looking forward to getting back to work).
Would we do it again? Definitely – in this global, electronic age, it is pretty easy to do (you just need an understanding employer)! We haven’t needed to open a local bank account (which probably would have taken us 10 months anyway) and with mobile phones and internet, it’s been easy to stay in touch with home.
Would we like to live there permanently? Definitely not – the bureaucracy, inefficiency and inaction would drive me crazy – but it’s a great place if you just want to come and relax.
And finally, a big thank you to Steve Wooler and the regular myTobago contributors who have kept us informed and entertained throughout our stay.
Steve Hull
My wife and I never managed a gap year, so after twenty years of working hard and with four young children in tow (aged, 10, 4, 3 and 8 months) we decided it was time for a break. We chose Tobago because it is pretty civilised (any nation that drives on the left must be OK) and there was nothing particularly nasty that could bite you or cause terminal illness. I also had connections with Tobago through work that provided an opportunity to do some voluntary work with an environmental NGO.
So after four months of preparation, we finally set off for Gatwick at 4am one wet October morning. The plane journey with four young kids is best forgotten (only an hour or two late) and we finally escaped the clutches of the Crown Point arrivals hall with all our baggage intact to be met by Sheppy. The (in)formalities swiftly completed we headed off in our wagon to the house we were renting at the top of Northside Road, overlooking Scarborough.
Over the next few days we slowly settled in (although it took a couple of months before the kids stopped waking up at silly hours in the morning). Joined the queue at TSTT to buy a local mobile phone, set up dial up internet access, find the supermarkets to buy all the things we’d forgotten to bring or couldn’t get in the suitcases etc etc.
By about the fifth day we were ready for some serious tourist activity and headed off for Castara. We stopped at Mount Dillon viewpoint on the way and were happily enjoying the view when a ‘gentleman’ with a machete leapt out and demanded all our money, camera etc. At first I thought it was a joke, but soon realised he was serious when he started waving the machete at my three year old daughter. At this point I got very cross and started shouting and advancing on our ‘attacker’ (later nicknamed ‘ol machete’ by our four year old daughter). Fortunately he promptly ran off back into the bushes. Police duly called, took notes etc etc but we never heard anything from them again… Having assured my wife that Tobago was very safe, our sabbatical nearly cam to an abrupt halt there and then – it was just the thought of another long plane journey home that kept us in Tobago. Our three year old had nightmares for about a week but was soon back to her normal self. Fortunately that was the only trouble of any sort that we encountered during our stay.
After that life settled into a happy routine of pool-beach-pool-sleep with a bit of work (I still had to work remotely 1 day per week for my UK employer) and voluntary work thrown in, home schooling (about an hour a day for our eldest) and pre-school a couple of mornings a week for our daughters (to keep us sane).
We have done just about every tourist thing on the island. Our family favourites ( in no particular order):
o Castara (both beaches are great); Little Bay is more sheltered
and we love the Boat House - if only it was open more often;
o Argyll waterfall – great for splashing in pools (and diving in
for the more adventurous);
o Blue Waters Inn/Bateaux Bay – we were fortunate to spend a
couple of days in one of the chalets (Owner’s bungalow);
o Canoe Bay – very child friendly beach and Helena and Winston
always made us very welcome;
o Pigeon Point – while there is a lot of hype, it is still a great
place for families (just avoid the days when the cruise liners
disgorge their passengers!);
o Cuffie River – more to see than on the main rainforest walks
(striped owls, potoo and cocoa mort blue butterflies), all
topped off by one of the best lunches on the island;
o Buccoo Reef glass bottom boat tour – there are still some
spectacular bits of reef left, just such a shame that much of
the reef has been trashed;
o Ciao Café (Scarborough) – for the ice cream and caffeine fix;
o Fort George (Scarborough) – for the views, climbing on the
cannons and the ‘Guitar Man’;
o Boat trips along the Caribbean coast – on a calm day this can’t
be beat.
So far as food goes, gastronomy is not Tobago’s strong point. The best meals we had were all at La Terrazza, serving non-local food, although we sampled widely elsewhere (Seahorse Inn, Tartaruga, Indigo’s, Ru-B-Lou’s, Mot-Mot, BWI, Dillon’s etc). Stag or Carib? Neither thanks – so good to be back on English beer.
I am also a doubly hopeless fisherman (hopelessly addicted but hopeless at catching anything), pacing the beaches at first light in search of Jaws. It has been my pleasure, through the myTobago site, to meet up and fish with a whole host of visitors from UK and elsewhere. This greatly enriched and enlivened my fishing trips – guys (and one or two gals), I can only apologise for all those blank trips! I have also been fortunate to go out with a number of local fishermen particularly at Plymouth and Castara - being at sea in a small pirogue is just a wonderful experience, the fishing is almost incidental.
Pretty much universally, all the locals we have met have been very friendly, although getting to know them in any meaningful way proved extremely difficult. We have puzzled over this a good deal - it just seems many of them are quite reserved – maybe they are just used to seeing ‘foreigners’ come and go. Most of the people we will be staying in touch with are ex-pats (British, Americans, Canadians).
Politically and economically, Tobago seems a complete anachronism. Instead of unemployment benefit, the Government pays a significant proportion of the population to trim the verges (with machetes and strimmers) under the auspices of CEPEP (Community Environmental Projects). This is very popular because it provides employment for many and a full days pay for about 3 hours work (leaving plenty of time for liming). However, it is only sustainable because of large oil & gas revenues to fund CEPEP. It is also a trap because large amounts of money are used to maintain the status quo, rather than to develop skills and ‘economically productive’ jobs. If things are to change, that change is more likely to come from the business sector rather than government. In the meantime the island seems to bumble along with change happening only slowly – maybe this just adds to the charm of the place, although I’ve no idea whether it can continue indefinitely.
On environmental matters (in which I have a professional interest), Tobago has a long way to go. But while the island has its share of environmental catastrophes, it still retains some spectacular wildlife and habitats and my hope is that effective arrangements for the management of the environment can be put in place before it is too late.
Has it been worthwhile? Definitely – it has been fantastic experience and great to spend quality time with my children (although I admit to looking forward to getting back to work).
Would we do it again? Definitely – in this global, electronic age, it is pretty easy to do (you just need an understanding employer)! We haven’t needed to open a local bank account (which probably would have taken us 10 months anyway) and with mobile phones and internet, it’s been easy to stay in touch with home.
Would we like to live there permanently? Definitely not – the bureaucracy, inefficiency and inaction would drive me crazy – but it’s a great place if you just want to come and relax.
And finally, a big thank you to Steve Wooler and the regular myTobago contributors who have kept us informed and entertained throughout our stay.
Steve Hull
To leave it as a wonderful holiday once or twice a year. I love Togabo and I love the people. I made a lot of good friends but you never know if they treat you the same way when you stay there for longer. Even if they all tell me to stay.
